Checklist

If you are thinking about buying photo-editing software, here's what you need to consider:

Price

The growth in popularity of open-source software means you don't necessarily have to pay for advanced photo-editing programs. Before spending $100 or more, see if one of the free programs in our test will meet your needs.

Many advanced pay-programs offer a free 30-day trial, so you can see how you like the program before you commit to buying it.

Features

A good image-editing program will offer a wide range of features and tools, to allow you scope in adjusting an image, or to automate/simplify common tasks. Here are the main tools you'll encounter.

Basic tools

• Resize: This lets you change the measurements and proportions of your image, usually in mm, inches, cm, pixels or percent. It's helpful if you can preview the resized image before making the final change.
  
  
• Change resolution: This option is sometimes called "Resample". It's useful for quickly changing the image resolution. An email image will probably be best at a lower resolution of 72 dots per inch (dpi) to save time sending and receiving, but the original could be scanned at 600 dpi so it can be resized for printing.
  
  
• Flip: This will reverse your image if you need to correct a slide scanned back-to-front or simply for decorative purposes. Most programs have this tool.
  
  
• Rotate: It's helpful if the program supplies automated icon buttons for image rotation.
  
  
• Add text: Useful for making cards and invitations. Most software performs this task well, providing good control over the position, colour, shape and pattern of the text. You can also edit text after it has been placed.
  
  
• Paint bucket: Once you've selected an area you can use the fill tool or paint bucket to fill your selection with a solid colour or pattern. For more detailed work, a paint brush in several different sizes and shapes is useful.
  
  
• Eraser: This can often be applied using a range of methods, from airbrush to straight square block, to achieve different effects.
  
  
• Rulers/guides: There should be options for changing measurement values (cm to mm to inches to pixels) and a grid for exact placement when working with photos.

Cropping and selecting

• Crop: Lets you cut out a section of your image. All programs can do this to some degree. Rulers and guides will help you get the measurements right.
  
  
• Cut and paste and crop: Uses a combination of tools to make a selection from one image and paste it into another.
  
  
• Selection: Lets you use the multi-shape selection tool to cut or fill a heart, diamond or oval shaped section of your photo. Most programs have more than four shapes; some have 10 or more.
  
  
• Colour selection: Some programs allow you to select a colour from your picture to use with the paint bucket or brush.
  
  
• Lasso tool: If you want to select or crop part of the picture that doesn't fit a standard shape, the lasso tool can be useful. It's a freehand selection tool that allows you to draw around the area you want to select.

Correction tools

• Sharpen: If your picture is a bit blurry, a sharpening tool (sometimes called an "unsharp mask") automatically identifies the edges of shapes in the picture and changes the pixels around them to make the image look sharper.
  
  
• Remove/reduce dust: This tool has several names including "Noise reduction", "Retouch", "Fix Flaw", "Damaged Photos" and "Despeckle". It's usually quite effective at removing dust and noise from a picture.
  
  
• Brightness/contrast: Most products have separate sliding bars for brightness and contrast. Some may also preview the image, allowing you to see changes as they happen.
  
  
• Stamp/clone tool: This selects pixels from one area and copies them to another which is handy if you want to reproduce a colour exactly, smudge a sharp line or cover a dust mark or speckle.
  
  
• Red-eye reduction: Helps remove or reduce the unpleasant effects of a flash reflecting off the back of your subjects' eyes. The most effective of these allow you to create a natural looking pupil that's correctly sized, feathered into the iris and comes complete with a glint.
  
  
• Colour balance: The colour balance tool adjusts the different levels of colour within the image. Reducing the amount of yellow in the picture, say, will lower the yellow tint. Tint, warmth and saturation tools perform a similar role.
  
  
• Scratch removal: Some programs have scratch removal tools to smudge over an area. These work well for small scratches but are less effective for deeper scores as the image can end up looking blurred. Serious scratches should be treated with a clone tool.